


Life Piece

by Nanostin



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: AU, F/M, fairy tale, the saimatsu doesn't end well...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 09:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14016981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanostin/pseuds/Nanostin
Summary: Long ago, there lived a pianist in the village who had the ability to heal through her magic. As she lives in her daily life, she notices how the life around her is becoming iller and sudden deaths are appearing too often.(This is the result of having a ten-page assignment due in four days.)





	Life Piece

**Author's Note:**

> This is supposed to be written like a Fairy Tale. In a lot of Fairy Tales, it is common to label a character for what they're most known for instead of giving them a name, and when a character is given a name it's usually the main character, so I stuck to that.

Once in a world different from ours, a world full of magic and wonders, there lived a pianist who had the ability to heal both physically and mentally through the music she plays on her piano. With a wonderful ability such as this, the people of the village come to see her every day for her to gladly heal them. Yes, she truly is beloved of the village.

Her mother takes this as an opportunity to make people pay a fair fortune, but sometimes the pianist is able to secretly heal people for free when her mother is not at the averaged sized mansion that they live in.

Since as long as she could remember she knew about her gifted ability, for she’d always been enhanced by the piano that her father owned. Playing it from day till night, she’d sometimes forget to eat and sleep. She liked the sound of the happy or relaxing melody, and how it always brought people around her nothing but positivity.

This lovely pianist is named Kaede, and right now, she walks through the town with her beautiful lavender dress to make it to the market, for her mother had asked of her to pick up a couple of groceries. She happily waves at the people that pass by her with a warm smile, and they usually do the same in return.

“Kaede! Kaede!” the entomologist of the village called for her desperately as he rapidly rocketed towards her, “Please, help my friend! His leg broke after someone, unfortunately, stepped on him.”

The entomologist held up a small jar in front of her with what looked to be a tiny insect of the sort.

Not being fond of bugs, Kaede winced at the sight; but knowing just how much the animal lover cared for insects, she told him without much of a stutter, “Sure, just come to my place at four.”

The entomologist's face shined as bright as the sun, knowing without a doubt that Kaede would be able to heal his friend with no problem.

Seeing such an expression made Kaede feel good about herself, she loved to help people and see the smile that they rewarded her with.

When it struck four, Kaede performed her piano piece to heal the bug just as she has told the warm-hearted animal lover she’d do, and as she played, she was completely absorbed by her music. Skimming through the white tiles and getting to the right notes was something relaxing for her. She also loved seeing how the keys that are usually black on an average piano was instead a dark shade of purple for the one that she owns. 

Once it was late at night and Kaede had finished all of her tasks, she laid herself down on her bed and noted how her bedroom window was open. Alas, she was far too tired to do an action as simple as keeping her eyelids open, and so she fell fast asleep with the night breeze blowing around her bedroom.

. . .

The pianist awoke from a young, unfamiliar, masculine voice that chirped, “Wakey wakey~ although a princess surely needs her beauty sleep, she has to wake up at some point!”

Dismissing that voice as something that she was hearing in a dream, Kaede remained to keep her eyes shut.

“Still not waking up…? Ah, I get it now!” the voice exclaimed, “A greedy princess like you could only wake up after a kiss from a prince right? Well, in that case…”

Hearing the masculine voice trail off from such a suggestive idea, Kaede quickly fluttered her eyes open to be met with a young baby-like face. She was startled to see a male's face so close to hers that she immediately smacked him away.

The male held his nose where the hit was most critical and whimpered, whining about how she hurt him as if he never knew it was to come.

Ignoring the small man’s cries, she looked around where she was, only to find a place where she wasn’t familiar with. The place was empty with nothing but black voids, but the middle where she and this stranger where had what was styled like a spotlight shining down on them. She also noticed how she was not in her bed; the bed she’s now on is a much smaller one than she was used to and had a softer mattress and pillows.

Seeing all of these unfamiliar things, she made an assumption that she has been kidnapped, which is, unfortunately, something that’s not too uncommon for her. Having such a helpful and unique ability, some people end up kidnapping her; the case always being that they’re too poor to afford the price for her aid and is in desperate need of healing.

And not to judge people on their looks, but the man looked like he was in drastic need of medical aid. His skin was as pale as that of a ghost, and his big round eyes had dark circles around them, although not too noticeable. His hair and eyes shined a purple hue as if asking for death. He looked so fragile and small, that she would have mistaken him for a child if not for his mature sounding voice.

“Where am I…?” Kaede inquired after analyzing her situation for so long.

“You’re in a privacy bubble, I made it myself,” the stranger bragged.

Thinking back to her listen on magic, Kaede knew that a ‘privacy bubble’ was a spell used by magic doers to create an empty space within the user and all whom they wish to join them. No one can see, feel, or hear the bubble, nor what goes on inside it.

The maiden recalled how the only magic doer in her village was a mage, and how she usually chooses not to show her magic that takes even just an average amount of work. And thinking more on that thought, if someone did kidnap her for healing, they wouldn’t take the extra measure of making sure that all senses were tacked out by the people outside. Also adding in the advancing wake-up call from the man, Kaede began to suspect the worst of outcomes.

“Are you scared?” the man asked as if he’s able to read her mind. When her only response was an uneasy expression, the stranger added in, “I won’t be surprised if you are. I am labelled as ‘The Source of All Agony’, which- by the way- I find to be extremely rude. I prefer the name ‘Wicked Sorcerer’. It’s not the most creative name, but it does sound pretty cool.”

As the sorcerer rambled on, Kaede cut in to hesitantly ask, “Why have you brought me here…?”

The sorcerer stared at her for a while as if forgetting the situation he was in through his rambles. “Oh, I’m not the one who brought you here, the members of my organization were the ones who did that,” he corrected, “I’m just the one who ordered them to do it. How happy it makes me to finally be able to talk to you, Kaede.”

“Oh, so you’ve heard about me?” the pianist was beginning to calm down. Her name spreads to places even outside the village about her ability, and if him hearing about her ability was the case as to why he’s abducted her, then she’ll be in a much less dangerous situation.

“Of course I have! Do you not recognize me? We were in chemistry together. Once when you and I were partners, I began to randomly mix multiple chemicals, and it resulted in you losing all of you flesh! Ah, that’s probably why you’re acting so uneasy around me, going as far as to pretend you don’t even know me,” the sorcerer moped, getting all teary eyed.

Knowing very well that she still had all of her flesh, she knew that what he told her was nothing but gibberish. “Hey, that never happened!” she objected.

“Yep, I lied!” the sorcerer more than happily admitted.

This man was clearly a jokester, and that attempted kiss of his was probably just a joke as well. With such a man as this one, Kaede knew that she won’t be getting any proper answers from him, but she still attempted into getting a proper response out of him by asking why is it he brought her to wherever she was. For what he told her in response, she couldn’t quite tell if he was being serious.

“Why? Because I see potential in you, of course! With your reputation, it’ll be easy to fix this messed up world, you and I! Join my organization, and together we'll do as we please to all the stupid plebs in this world. Let's sit on top of the world and look down on everyone else... and if we just want to watch the world burn? That's fine too! We'll light the whole thing up!” the sorcerer persuaded.

Such a silly thing to say, and yet, he said it rather dreamily with such a serious tone. These ideas of his truly did disgust Kaede, especially the part about burning the world.

“I’m sorry but… there’s no way I’d join your organization!” Kaede confidently declined.

The sorcerer looked disappointed by this, although not too surprised. “It’s okay, I understand. I’ll just have to find a way to make you join me,” he chuckled, “so for now, sleep.”

Kaede didn’t have much time to think of such a strange and sudden instruction that he’s given her, for she found herself growing tired and fell fast asleep.  
. . .

Kaede awoke with the sun beaming in her eyes; her bedroom window was still open from last night. Thinking back to the event that she has gone through, it began to feel much more like a dream, and she dismissed it as such.

Going through her daily morning procedures of keeping her hygienes clean and getting dressed, she noticed how fewer birds chirped than they usually do by this time of morning. Finishing eating her french toast, she went to her small garden to see how her flowers were doing only to be devastated to see that they have wilted. 

She was sure that she gave them enough water, but apparently not. 

As she disappointingly began to pick out the dead roots of her flowers, she was shocked to see a bird fall straight to the ground on the left as to where she has been crouching and plucking out the flowers.

Curiously examining the bird, she saw how lifeless it looked and confirmed that it was, in fact, dead. She felt a sense of melancholy befall her, knowing very well how not even her ability to heal was enough to save a life once it was gone.

The pianist recalled how as a kid, she was once mad for a reason so small and childish that she couldn’t remember it at her present time. Her childish-self was so angry, that as she played her toy piano to try to calm herself down, she pounded on the keys so viciously that a squirrel that was nearby ended up dying right on the spot. With a child’s mind being so pure, she broke into a state of panic and played her music from day to night to try to revive it only to sob over the fact that her efforts were futile.

This is a lesson that taught her to never play a piece so violently, for just as she hurts the keys on her piano, she hurts those who hear her playing.

That day, she was surprised to be met with twenty-six patients who needed her aid all in one day. 

As the days went on, she began seeing more and more people come to her, all feeling a sense of pain emotionally, physically, or sometimes both. And as she walked through the village to pick up some groceries, she was saddened to see how people distanced themselves from one another, as if they were at war in opposing teams. The wonderful blooming flowers who always showed off their beauty were nonexistent, and the sky looked to be in a great state of depression.

The village was in such a gloomy state, that Kaede herself was beginning to feel gloomy. 

By the time the forty-eighth patient came to see her, Kaede has decided that she’s had enough of these negative vibes and planned on reporting her analysis to the village’s detective.

And thus, she went to his house, which was just next to hers, and saw a boy her age greet her by the door. This was the detective’s nephew; a timid one he is, but he’s extraordinary in solving cases whenever he means to solve them or not.

Since the detective went travelling to a far-off town, Kaede told all that she’s seen to his nephew, confident that he’ll find the problem that’s causing all of this agony. Once she did, he assured her that he’ll find the cause to it all.

A week past, and as it did Kaede saw more patients arrive and more of the lives around her passing away.

Just as she was about to fall into despair, she heard a knock at her front door. Once opening it, she saw the detective’s nephew stand outside with an expression so serious and papers in his hand; research papers, to be exact.

He told the pianist that from his research and investigation he has discovered that all of the misery and sorrow is coming from a single source and that the source is located in the village. He informed her that if they’re able to figure out what or who that source is, then they’ll be able to put a stop to it by using a positive type of magic.

Hearing this made Kaede cheer in excitement, for she knew of a mage that lives in the village.

She told the detective about this mage and how she was going to confront her, and he assisted in going along with her, which she has accepted.

The mage of their village was an odd one, she’d only cast magic that seems more for performing acts; when asked to cast a higher level type of magic, she’ll only decline in doing it with signs of being simply too uninterested to do so. 

Although, the detective did say that as long as the magic brought out positivity, then it’ll be enough.

They arrived at the mage’s little tent where she performs tricks for the youngsters and told her about their issue. She looked a little troubled, surely because she is afraid of standing against such a dangerous foe as one that brings sorrows. Nonetheless, she accepted in doing it.

So now the detective’s nephew and the pianist went around the village, asking questions to people and interrogating to see if they could find the source. Unfortunately, not much new information was being found.

Once they confronted the anthropologist of the village, he told them on how he read about such a case before in a certain tale. He explained how such a source of agony came from a young maiden in that tale. Hearing this, the two confirmed that the source is being caused by a person.

They finished up their investigation and Kaede returned to her house with a concerning thought on her mind. The sorcerer she met in supposedly her dream told her how he was labelled as ‘The Source of All Agony’.

This raised major flags for the sorcerer, and if Kaede was ever to see him again, she’ll be sure to question him for it.

The next day, Kaede was awoken by a familiar sounding voice calling her name from outside her bedroom window. 

Still feeling a daze of sleep, she slowly got out of bed and sighed.

But once a stick got thrown at her window, she completely awoke and ran to open her bedroom window and peeked down two-stories high to see a young purple haired boy with a staff almost as large as himself outside.

She was a bit shock to see the sorcerer just standing outside her house. With this, she could confirm that her abduction was not actually a dream and was, indeed, reality.

“This is what they do in those teenage romance stories, right?” he queried.

Kaede stared at him in disbelief. The source of all agony was real, and he was right outside her bedroom window.

She supposed that now was a good time to get him to admit if he’s the source of all of this misery. 

“Come on inside sorcerer,” she demanded, “we need to talk.”

“...You’re inviting me to your room?” he questioned.

He said it in such an embarrassing way, it caught the young girl off guard. “What-? No! Ah, meet me in the kitchen!” she justified.

Hearing her command, the sorcerer tapped his staff once on the ground and disappeared. Kaede logically assumed that he teleported himself to her kitchen.

She tidied herself up a bit and walked over to her kitchen to see the sorcerer leaning against the kitchen chair that he was sitting on, looking extremely bored.

Pleased to see that he listened to her, she began to explain her reason for inviting him over. “I’m glad you came sorcerer, I want to ask-”

“You want to ask if I’m the cause of this agony?”

Once again, the sorcerer was able to read her like a book.

“Yes, I do,” clarified Kaede.

“Well, I want to ask you a question too...” 

“And what is that?” 

“Do you want to join my organization?”

“I do not,” she deadpanned.

The sorcerer looked about ready to let out his crocodile tears. “Oh please, Kaede! Pretty please! I’ll cast for you a huge feast if you join!” he pleaded.

Kaede rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour. “I told you that I will not and that’s final. Now please, tell me if you’re the source of all this misery.”

“I’m not!” declared the sorcerer without hesitation.

Looking him straight in the eye, she accepted his answer and changed the topic by asking if there was anything that he’d like to eat.

“You’re going to believe me just like that? No proof needed?” he asked in disbelief.

“Yes, they say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and your eyes showed nothing but purity,” she explained.

“Purity…?” he pondered her choice of word for a bit before coming back to reality.

“You really shouldn’t believe people so easily you know, it’ll only lead you into trouble,” he advised.

Before Kaede could respond, the sorcerer vanished from her kitchen.

With the talk she had with him, she took out any possibility of him being the source causing misery.

Visiting the detective’s nephew at a cafe, she patiently listened to him vent on how difficult it is to solve the case, and that he’s a failure of a detective. 

She hated hearing him call himself a failure, and will not allow any forms of self-negativity from him.

And so she told him of how wonderful he is, doing hours of investigation to put a stop to the misery. She genuinely did admire his determination and was impressed by his reasoning skills.

He chuckled timidly at the compliments and support that she gave him, not being able to look her in the eyes.

This is another thing she admired about him, although ashamed to have picked up on; he’s able to be handsome yet cute. He’s shy yet is able to get assertive, and she loved seeing that assertive side of him.

It was becoming silent, yet a peaceful kind of silent. It seems that they don’t need to talk because just sensing one another's presence is amazing enough for them.

Suddenly appearing out of nowhere, a third person decided to join them. “Ooo~ a flirtatious vibe is in the air,” teased the sorcerer.

And with that, their moment of peaceful silence was ruined.

“Wicked Sorcerer…?” the detective blinked, checking to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

“Yep, that’s me! You truly do have A+ detective skills,” praised the sorcerer.

It seems that the detective has heard of the sorcerer, and also that the sorcerer has been eavesdropping on their conversation for quite a while.

The sorcerer plopped himself down on a chair right in between the two and scooted Kaede’s chair away from the table with his staff. “So mister detective, you found out who the culprit is yet?” he asked, acting as if he cared.

“From the looks of it, I think I have,” the detective's nephew replied, staring coldly at the sorcerer.

“Oh? You don’t think it’s me, do you?” pouted the sorcerer.

“No, not completely. There’s no evidence that leads to you.”

“Wow, very professional,” the sorcerer acted as if he was impressed, “but maybe you’ll find the actual culprit if you’re not flirting with the pianist all the time.”

Although the sorcerer smiled at him, his eyes were completely grim. From the looks of it, he seems to be jealous.

“Ah- I’m not flirting! You’re distracting me from investigating!” the detective’s nephew stammered.

This went on for a while; the sorcerer taunting the nephew and the nephew denying until Kaede figured that she should cut out their immature act.

Clearing her throat roughly, she spoke, “Sorcerer, is there a reason for you being here?”

“Huh?” the sorcerer was caught off guard by her sudden question, “Well of course there’s a reason! I’m just getting breakfast, we are at a cafe after all.”

The sorcerer cast himself a croissant and began to munch down on it. Seeing that he could just cast his own breakfast, it was clear that him coming to the cafe to get breakfast was a lie.

“In that case, we’ll leave you so you could eat your breakfast in peace; come on detective, let’s go,” Kaede raised from her seat and left the cafe with the detective’s nephew following.

As they were outside the cafe, they noticed how the bush with flowers growing on it has wilted and died. This was a strange sight considering how the plants were so lively when they walked in.

As they walked around the village, they were stopped by the tailor of the village.

“I heard that you guys are trying to take down the source to all of this misery, that’s so courageous of you!” she gushed, “And for that reason, I think that you two need some equipment, come with me!”

Before they could decline in any way the tailor dragged them both firmly by the hand into her little shop. She excitedly presented to them her outfits that befitted more on the heroes in children stories.

The two told her how no such outfits were needed, but she still insisted that they take at least a belt with them that’ll allow them to store their weapons in. Kaede explained to her how a belt such like that would not be necessary, for they don’t attend to hurting the culprit in any way.

The tailor was surprised to hear this but still praised the two for being true heroes, as in a hero who stops the enemy in a peaceful way. She was always passionate about tales with heroes who fight with pure justice. Kaede felt modest for being praised so highly, but the detective’s nephew kept quiet the whole time as if he was hiding something.

Once they said their goodbyes to the tailor, they went to visit the anthropologist to ask if they could hear the tale he spoke of the last time they confronted him, and so he began to narrate it, making sure to not leave any important detail.

From what they’ve heard, the tale has the girl who was the source of the agony die at the end, being killed by the magic that the protagonist had put upon her.

Kaede was concerned by the way the tale ended, but the detective’s nephew informed her how no harm was to befall of the culprit in their reality, and she was comforted by his words.

A few more days passed, and things were getting worst. The population of the village decreased by a huge amount due to sudden deaths.

Looking at her backyard, Kaede felt saddened to see that only a single flower stood alive. A small purple one that was completely alone, yet it looked as if it was shining happily.

She walked her way over to the detective’s house and saw that three other people were with him; the anthropologist, the mage, and the tailor. She understood the presence of the anthropologist and mage but was confused as to why the tailor was here. 

Sitting herself down in an armchair, the detective’s nephew explained to her how the tailor assistant in joining their meeting after hearing him invite the mage at her tent. With the excitement she showed in helping them out in anyway that she can, he just couldn't bring himself to reject her from joining.

And so they discussed with one another small sets of information. At some point, the tale was brought up by the anthropologist, and a spark flashed in the eyes of the tailor. “Oh, I know this story, it’s amazing!” she exclaimed.

“Really, you know of this story? It’s not a common one…” the anthropologist stated doubtfully.

“Yes, I do! I love the way the hero is able to defeat the antagonist by injecting positive magic into the blood of her tongue!” she bubbled.

This caught Kaede’s attention. “The hero injected the magic into her blood?” she asked in concern.

“Oh yes! You must’ve heard the children version, but in the real version, the hero’s magic was poured into the blood of the antagonist!”

This was new news to Kaede, and she hesitantly asked, “Detective, we won’t be having to pour any magic into the blood of the culprit’s tongue, will we?”

Such an action seemed too violent for the pianist, and thinking of how painful it must feel to get one’s tongue cut made her wince; she didn’t want to cause any intentional kind of harm.

“Actually… we will,” he admitted, “but you could always heal them right afterwards!”

Kaede was upset to see that the detective’s nephew left out an important detail, but she understood why; he doesn’t want to trouble her in any way, surely.

The anthropologist noticed the mage shaking nervously and sweating bullets and asked if something was troubling her.

“It’s nothing! Just… the thought of cutting a person's tongue makes me feel a bit uneasy, is all,” she trembled.

The gang comforted her and finished up their meeting.

. . .

Kaede woke up to find herself in a familiar place, yet a place that wasn’t her home.

“Sorcerer, why have you cast a privacy bubble around me?” she challenged.

Not hearing a response, she got up and felt that she has stepped on something rough. Hearing a whimper, she quickly lifted up her foot to see that the sorcerer has been resting on the floor. Rising up, he whined as to how she has rudely awoken him from his sleep.

“It’s not my fault that you decided to sleep right on the floor next to the bed that I was resting on; why didn’t you cast yourself a bed of your own?” she scolded.

“That’s because I fell asleep as I was keeping watch of you,” he replied while stretching.

The thought of the sorcerer watching Kaede as she slept brought a shiver up her spine.

“Watching me as I sleep? Why would you do such an unsettling thing?” she puzzled.

“To make sure that you are comfortable in your new home. Oh, and also, good morning~” he chirped.

Kaede felt dumbfounded to what she was hearing. “What do you mean new home? Is this about me joining your organization? Because I told you multiple times that I will not join,” she said sternly.

“Of course not, this is to give you the best possible outcome. Those people you put your trust in are nothing but liars, you know. In the end, they’ll make you do something that you’ll regret.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous; the people I trust are not liars, they’ll never lie!”

“That’s a bold statement to make, it makes me realize just how oblivious you are.”

Feeling insulted by what he told her, Kaede demanded him to release her from the private bubble at once. He wouldn’t budge at first, but after seeing the angry pouty face she bestowed upon him, he sighed and reluctantly returned her back to her room. 

Seeing that she was back at her home, she prepared breakfast for herself and heard a knock at her door. Opening it up, she was surprised to see the detective’s nephew and the mage by her door. The nephew had a look of disappointment to him.

“We’re sorry to bother you so early in the morning Kaede, but this little mage here would like to share a little something,” he apologized as he eyed the mage. 

The little girl held her head down in guilt and muttered something that Kaede couldn't quite hear. Seeing this, she muttered a little more clearly but still could not be understood. Feeling a sense of frustration, she confessed in a loud and clear voice, “I can’t do real magic, okay!?”

Feeling shocked, Kaede spoke hesitantly, “Excuse me…?”

“I can’t do real magic, only fake tricks. I-I didn’t want people to know because they won’t be impressed by my magic if they knew that it’s all nothing but cheap tricks…” she sniffed on the verge of tears, “I didn’t want you guys to know, b-but after seeing how close you are in actually finding the source to all of this agony, I was scared that you’ll send me out to stop the culprit and I’ll only end up seriously hurt.”

Taking in all that the mage was saying, Kaede sighed disappointingly. However, seeing how sorry the mage looked, she still forgave her. Confused as to what to do now that their source to stopping the culprit was nonexistent, the pianist stared at the detective’s nephew to see if he had anything else to share.

“Since the mage can’t perform actual magic, I was hoping that you could use your ability, Kaede. It’s like a type of magic of its own after all, just a special unique kind,” he explained. As he spoke about her ability, she couldn't help but feel as if he was speaking specifically about her, causing a tint of blush to form on her cheeks.

“My ability? But it’s not something physical, nor is it portable either,” she sighed.

“Yes, but I know someone who can physically store up some of your ability,” he replied.

With that, she let the boy lead her into a purple tent, where a foreigner lived for the time being. This foreigner was able to do witchcraft and chants and was a strange one, to say the least.

Telling his request to the foreigner, she accepted but suddenly stopped in her tracks as they were travelling back to Kaede’s house so she could get to her piano.

“This request is great and all, but… these spirits are telling me that I should get something back in return,” she hummed.

They explained to her that what she’s doing could put a stop to all the death and agony that’s being spread, but she seemed to not be intrigued in the slightest by what they told her. She then offered to help them if they promised to give her a bit of the culprit’s blood.

They accepted feeling a bit unsettled and disgusted, and she happily skipped alongside them to the pianist’s house.

Once making it to her piano, Kaede began playing a joyful melody, although hard to do after all that has been going on around her. As she did, the foreigner chanted in an unknown language and an orange mist began to form around the air. The detective’s nephew opened up a small glass bottle and swiped up the mist, quickly turning the cap back on the lid to make sure that the mist doesn’t fly out.

They thanked the foreigner and Kaede place the small bottle on her bedroom shelf. Before saying goodbye to the nephew, she asked him if the culprit will die like in the tale and he assured her that no internal harm will come to the culprit. Hearing his reassurance made her feel much more at ease and confident. She went to sleep only to wake up in the privacy bubble once again.

“Sorcerer, why have you brought me here once more?” she groaned.

“I just want to inform you that that lovely detective of yours is a liar. By the way it seems, he’s afraid of telling you the truth. But trust me, Kaede, once you perform the method of getting rid of the culprit, you’ll take away their life,” he warned.

He had a serious tone with no sense of joke to him, something that was very unusual with a jokester like himself. Still, Kaede chose not to believe his words, saying how the only one lying to her is him.

Seeing that there was no changing her mind, he shrugged and said, “Fine, believe what you may. But when you become too traumatized to even cry, remember what I told you.”

With that being said, he spoke no more and teleported her back to her room.

She perked her head up when she heard rapid knockings on her front door and stumbled through the stairs to get to it. Once opening the door, she saw the detective's nephew looking like he was in a rush, and indeed he was.

He spoke rapidly, but from what Kaede understood, he figured out who the source to all of this agony is. She quickly changed out of her nightgown and grabbed her glass bottle, placing it in a small pouch that she wore around like a necklace.

As they rushed over to where the culprit lived, the nephew explained to her of how whenever this person would walk, things will become severely ill or instantly die, and how the culprit informed them that they’ve already been to the cafe a few days ago when he invited them to it, and how they visited the place on the same day they did, and of him recalling to himself of the flowers that died that day.

They stopped by a house which was also a shop, the tailor’s shop. Seeing that the door was unlocked due to it being business hours, they rushed inside and found the tailor calmly drinking tea at her kitchen. “Oh, I have customers, huh…?” she wondered aloud, not facing the two.

“Tailor, you’re quite amazing at your work, making the finest clothing and making others feel younger and energetic with your enthusiasm,” complimented the detective’s nephew, “although, you are the source to all of this misery and sorrows, aren’t you?”

The tailor slowly set her teacup down on her plate while remaining at ease. “Detective, why is it that you suspect me of such a thing…?” she questioned calmly.

The detective’s nephew readily explained to her all that he told Kaede, and she hummed in amusement. “I see, so you’re going to cut my tongue now? That’s going to be really hard for you to do, especially since I have no exact form.”

She slowly began to change shape, becoming bigger and bigger, as well as growing large devilish wings, horns, and scales. She grew so big, that she ended up breaking most of her ceiling. Her skin became much more blue, becoming a shade of purple at the end of her arms and legs. The pianist and nephew stared in utter shock, their eyes as big as saucers for what they were witnessing.

“I’m not human, you see? I’m a creature who can take the form of multiple things; to put things simply, a shapeshifter,” she smiled warmly as she clawed through her floor, creating deep holes that’ll kill anyone unfortunate enough to fall upon it. With this, the pianist and nephew couldn’t escape, although, they weren’t planning on doing so, to begin with.

Realizing that she’s going to have to cut an opening through the tailor’s tongue, Kaede grabbed a kitchen knife that was now on top of a pile of rubble due to the impacts of the tailor’s smashes with her arms.

“Ah, you still want to cut me, Kaede? Well then, I’ll assist you in doing just that,” the tailor announced. Picking up the pianist by her dress, the tailor opened her mouth wide and dropped her inside. Kaede grabbed a hold of her uvula, desperately trying to hold on, which only caused the tailor to cough repeatedly.

Slipping from the tailor’s uvula, Kaede landed at the end of her tongue and rapidly crawled her way to the middle of it. Kitchen knife in hand, Kaede sliced the tongue, trying hard to not make a deep cut. Unfortunately, she was so unbalanced inside the tailor’s tongue that she ended up slice a cut much wider then she attended. And with that, much more blood began to flow out.

The tailor pressed her hands to her lips in pain as Kaede tried to open up her pouch with shaky hands. By the time the blood reached to her shoulders with the crawling position that she was in, she was able to pour her own kind of magic from the bottle into the blood. 

Once she did, she was slipped out of the tailor’s mouth and was caught just in time by the detective’s nephew.

The tailor screamed in pain and fell to her knees. She began to slowly transform back into her human form, lying on the kitchen floor with hands clenching against her mouth and appearing very pale. A bit too pale. Inspecting her some more, Kaede saw how her eyes showed no form of life. The once very expressive tailor was now completely frozen, with no sign of life to her.

A corpse, Kaede was staring directly at a corpse that she herself has created. She felt multiple negative emotions washing over her at the same time. Shock, fear, nauseous, and grief. Once someone is dead, efforts to revive them is futile.

She stared at the nephew, the one whom she trusted, waiting for an explanation.

“You did it, Kaede, you’ve gotten rid of her. That’s so… wonderful!” he praised her.

How can he smile so gleefully like that when he has just witnessed a gruesome murder and is now staring directly at a corpse? 

Looking around her, she saw villagers gather around the scene as much as they can, not being able to make it directly to her due to the holes in the ground. As they cheered her on, all she could see was the bloodthirst in their eyes, and how everything around them was still lifeless.

She realized how even with a world that looked so peaceful, there was still stress and agony hidden among everyone and a desire for revenge. 

She heard a voice scream, not realizing that it was her own. “Sorcerer! Sorcerer!” she screamed desperately, like a bruised child calling out to their parents.

She suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, with the world and the crowd spinning around and around her, until she saw nothing but black with what was styled like a spotlight shining down on her.

“Do you finally realize now, Kaede? You shouldn’t trust people so easily, even the purest ones could commit an act of despair. People as pure as… you,” he spoke gently to her as she clenched her chest as if it was going to fall out.

“Sorcerer, create for me a hill where I could stand high upon and look down at this world,” she instructed through hiccups, “a-and teleport me and my piano to the top of it. And if you could, give it the loudest, finest volume; one that all people in this world could hear.”

He did as was instructed with no complaints or questions.

As she stared down at her village she announced, “I’m going to… take away all of the agonies in the world.”

She began to play a piece that was supposedly meant to be happy, but with the misery she felt, the tune came out flat. Still, the notes echoed loudly across the earth. She stopped playing and asked the sorcerer, “Is it possible to make yourself go death in the ears temporarily with your magic? If not, then just make yourself a privacy bubble.”

“I could indeed,” answered the sorcerer, and with a tap of his staff, he gave a thumbs up as if to show that he couldn’t hear a thing.

Reaching out to the purple tiles on her piano, she muttered a ‘good’ and began to rapidly press down on her keys. She cried in frustration and sadness, letting out all of her sorrows as she pounded on the keys more and more violently and blindly.

Her music brought out a purple mist that spread far and wide, soon making the illusion of an orchid blazing flame. The sorcerer stared in awe and gently spoke, “My dream, you’ve made it a reality…”

And so, he watched the world burn with Kaede until she stopped playing her piano and became silent; and with that, the world was silent as well. There was no life in the world left accept for Kaede’s and the sorcerer’s, which meant that there was no sorrow to go along with it.

Looking at her new creation of the world, the pianist with pure intentions and once pure actions smiled warmly and chuckled.

**Author's Note:**

> This whole story was inspired by Kaede's free time events with Kokichi, did you notice that?


End file.
